Within the series of lectures “New views, perspectives and research on gender theory” of the Study and Research Group for Gender Equality and Public Policy of the Institute of Social Sciences in Belgrade, prof. Dr. Svetlana Tomić, Associate Professor at the Faculty of Foreign Languages, Alfa BK University, Belgrade, gave an online lecture on “From a ruined grave to the first public monument: building and stabilizing the memory of prominent women in Serbian culture” on April 20, 2022.
In the lecture, prof. Dr. Tomić presented the results of her research on the establishment of a new model of memory of the first Serbian woman poet in modern times, Milica Stojadinović Srpkinja. The basic research question that prof. Dr. Tomić tried to explain was: Why doesn’t the fame that a woman gained during her life provide a stable mechanism for remembering her character and work after her death? The lecture had four parts. First, the historical context of Serbian politics, economy, legislation and education is presented. The second part was about the life and work of Milica Stojadinović. In the third part, data on the process of rebuilding the glory of Milica Stojadinović at the beginning of the 20th century and the establishment of memorialization processes are presented. Topics for further research and conclusion were presented at the end of the lecture, followed by a discussion.
The lecture presented the stages of devising a different policy of remembering a famous woman in Serbian culture. All the actions taken by women in the period 1906-1913, including the erection of the first public monument to a famous woman in Serbian culture in 1912, show that women understood very well the mechanisms of building public memory, whose essence is to preserve past in the future. Tomić speculates that the long-term public pressure of women influenced Jovan Skerlić to include one woman writer in his university textbook (“History of New Serbian Literature”, 1912) – Milica Stojadinović Srpkinja.
As a powerful means of influencing the broad masses, the women activists used the products of popular culture, which Tomić recommended for today’s processes of reviving the memory of other prominent personalities. In the discussion, she emphasized the importance of self-documentation and noted that writing autobiographical texts of any genre (diary, memoirs, sketches etc.) is of primary importance for the construction and deconstruction of facts, but also for stabilizing the memory of prominent individuals. Since reception is one of the essential factors for survival in culture, and it also plays an important role for a well-established methodology of scientific work, the formation of an online bibliographic database has been proposed. This would provide a reliable reference research starting point and prevent the omission of pioneering work in an area. Older researchers were suggested to compile a bibliography, a list of references and of insufficiently researched topics to ensure the continuation of the started research. Tomić warned of the lack of systemic care for memorials of famous women and monumental busts in basements such as the bust of Queen Natalia, but also of the neglected intellectual heritage that is discarded from library funds and which is not revived, but remains separated from the culture; publishers show little interest since they are guided by the dominant policies of the (patriarchal) canon.
The lecture was listened to by a dozen researchers from Serbia, including one from Montenegro. The present researchers proposed a call for action and personal responsibility, as well as sending a letter to the Street Naming Commission and the Coordination Body for Gender Equality of the Republic of Serbia in order to create a directory of famous women and devise a systematization of memories of prominent women from the past. It was also suggested that the existing bust of Queen Natalija be transferred from the basement to a public space (for example, in front of the Institute of Social Sciences, since it is in a street named after Queen Natalija) and activate the memory of its multiple significance.
